Colombia's Most Wanted Guerrilla Leader Calls Rival Groups to Unite Against Trump: 'Destiny Calls Us to Unite'
After decades of bloody battles for territory, drug routes and illegal economies, Colombia's most wanted guerrilla leader has issued a surprising appeal to rival groups in the region: to put aside their conflicts and unite against a common enemy, Donald Trump and the United States.
Colombia's most wanted guerrilla leader wants a rebel “super army” PHOTO: X
“The war between the Mordisco, or FARC dissidents, and the ELN was very, very bloody, with a huge humanitarian impact“, security analyst Jorge Mantilla told The Telegraph. “Despite that, Mordisco is saying, 'hey, stop this, let's unite against the enemy, which is the US and its intervention.' So the cards are on the table“.
A possible joint US-Colombia-Venezuela offensive
The danger of forming such an alliance has also been invoked by Colombia's president, Gustavo Petro, himself a former guerrilla fighter, to call for a coordinated effort to eliminate armed groups involved in drug trafficking. Petro said he had invited Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuela's new leader, to cooperate in ousting the insurgent forces.
A possible joint military operation launched by the United States, Colombia and Venezuela could, in theory, destroy these groups after more than 60 years of armed conflict. The ELN was founded in the 1960s by students and union leaders inspired by the Cuban Revolution and for over half a century extorted, kidnapped and killed Colombian civilians.
In recent years, the Maduro regime has allowed ELN fighters to take refuge in areas along the Colombian border, betting that they could become the first line of defense against possible attacks by the United States. However, ELN commanders are taking advantage of the situation to traffic in drugs and people, in a context where millions of Venezuelans have fled the country to escape repression.
The ELN reportedly has around 6,000 members and controls large parts of Catatumbo, a region in Colombia known for massive cocaine production. “Today, the ELN's main goal is not to seize power in Colombia or rebuild the Colombian state, but rather to defend the Bolivarian Revolution,” Mantilla explained. After Maduro's capture, the group said it would fight “the American empire to the last drop of blood.”
Gustavo Petro reiterated that he invited Delcy Rodriguez to collaborate with Colombian troops to eliminate the insurgent forces.
“All Latin American Countries Will Produce Guerrilla Fighters”
If the United States were to send ground troops to Venezuela, the ELN could call for the formation of a “continental armies“, claims Carlos Arturo Velandia, former commander of the group. Until then, however, he says, the ELN will most likely ignore Mordisco's call. “The ELN characterized the armed group led by Mordisco as a narco-paramilitary organization in the service of the state“.
Velandia believes, however, that such a call for ideological mobilization will be respected and that “all countries will produce guerrilla fighters who will fight against imperialismi”, even though they will most likely stay to fight in their own states.
Even a joint military operation by the United States, Venezuela and Colombia would not have an easy mission. “There are about 25,000 armed fighters, if we count not only the ELN, but all armed groups in Colombia” said Mantilla. “25,000 people is not something you can wipe off the map with a bombing or a special operation. I think it would be a great long-term effort to gain territorial control in those places where the ELN has cultivated criminal rule and has the ability to corrupt and capture local states“.
In an interview in 2019, ELN commander Israel Ramirez Pineda, known as Pablo Beltran, was already talking about the possibility of an American intervention to overthrow Maduro. “If they come after us, we will answer. We will not run or hide“, Beltran said then.
Seven years later, the ELN leaders' promise to rise up against the “imperialist enemy” seems closer than ever to being put to the test.
